RS200 Track Car

[tartaruga]

Right, time for an update. Lots has been done.

Had this dropped off to a Renault specialist at the beginning of July with a list of jobs I wanted done. A few more were found along the way!

First up the belts and water pump were replaced. Crankshaft pulley was looking a bit worn so decided to replace that. Unfortunately the radiator was found to have a leak when it got to the garage so new radiator was ordered and installed.

I had supplied Hel front and rear braided brake lines so these were installed along with some RBF660 fluid.

I knew there was at least one exhaust leak (flexi) and possibly another towards the rear when giving it to the garage which were both confirmed. The rear leak was due to a badly fitted joiner, so had that replaced. There was already an aftermarket header on it, which turned out to have a blown flexi. Instead of going for a repair, I just decided to buy new. Went with the Gravity one as they had a discount running at the time.

Added some Powerflex engine mounts to hopefully keep the exhaust intact for a while longer!

Couldn’t get an OEM gasket in time so went for what I believe is as good as…. Didn’t want to be using the one that came with the manifold as I’ve read they’re crap and don’t last long.

The garage informed me the wiper mechanism had also broken. Decided to sort that one myself. As you can see, it had completely snapped off on the drivers side. Ordered a replacement linkage and had it changed over in about 20 mins. Handy enough job. Drivers side drain was clogged so cleared that out and gave the area a quick clean.

New linkage

All done. Ready for the rain now!

I missed the last trackday in July cause of the parts I needed to order in. I’m booked in for the morning session this Friday in Mondello Park so looking forward to finally getting this out.

 

[tartaruga]

Trackday #1 in the Clio complete. Just did the morning session as it was first time out since all the work was done. Spent the first session bedding in the brakes. I did get a low battery warning on the dash at the end of this session. Didn’t come back on in again so one to watch.

Car was great overall. Didn’t use a drop of oil. Very happy with the brakes. I’ve Michelin Pilot Sport 5’s all round but the fronts are just about done. Might get another half day out of them but need to decide whether I just replace them with something similar or go for some track tyres now.

Going to start stripping some of the interior ahead of the next outing. I will be going for half cage and buckets but likely be the new year for them so going to just try shift some unnecessary weight for now. I’ve keyless entry so think I need to watch out for the antennas for that. Anything else I should be aware of?

Few pics from the day. I’ve since removed the yellow pinstripes, weren’t for me!

 

[burrellbloke]

The low battery warning might be an alternator problem if your battery is actually working properly.

The keyless sensors are pretty obvious when you find them.

When you have bucket seats you can concentrate on driving and forget about sliding around in your seat.

 

[tartaruga]

Cheers bb. Will get a multimeter on the battery to be sure but did check it a while back and it was grand. Hopefully just a little electrical gremlin!

Forgot to mention, while on track I commented to myself at one stage that the engine cooling was excellent. Sitting between second and third bar, going no more than the third but overall wasn’t paying a huge amount of attention to it. Then spotted some comments on one of the Clio FB groups about this and the possibility of the thermostat being stuck open. I read that the third bar is around 90 degrees. Is this normal? What are others seeing on track?

 

[burrellbloke]

I have got a data logger in my Clio. We did a Brands Hatch track evening on 10.08.2026 when the temperature was 25 degrees. The coolant got to about 90 degrees, or thereabouts, and not much hotter. Last year at the Nurburgring it was 30 degrees and the coolant stayed around 90 degrees - the oil temp was getting hotter than the coolant. My thermostat never seems to go past the third bar.

 

[rSilva]

Never saw mine on track go higher than slightly over the 3rd bar and usually sits just under or on top.
Years ago it started staying closer to the 2nd, swapped for a new OEM one and it returned to it's usual behavior.

 

[tartaruga]

Quick update time.

My headlights were turning white yellow. I know this is purely a track car but with a hour free on a cold Sunday morning, I said I’d give them a quick polish. They’re not perfect, but a darn sight better than what they were.

Before

After

Started a little bit of weight saving too by taking out the rear seats and carpets. The plan is to fully strip it but will likely be the new year when I line up a half cage and some seats.

Second trackday took place last Monday on a very wet bank holiday. My front tyres are nearing their end so wasn’t sure how they’d go given the weather. The car was immense though, getting more comfortable pushing it on now. For a car that’s completely standard setup wise, it handles so well. Brake setup is excellent, gives me lots of confidence. We lost about an hour track time due to a car putting oil down on half the track. Tarzan 1 & 2 was already slippy from the rain but was like an ice rink when they let us back out, all good fun though.

Unfortunately I got the low battery warning light again, although it was right at the end of my last planned session so didn’t interrupt my day. Battery is showing 12.6v but 11.9v with engine running so looks like I have an alternator issue. I checked it again a few days later and it was showing 14.8v so reckon the voltage regulator has packed in. It seems these are very picky on alternators and anything apart from OEM causes issues. I’ll likely chance replacing the voltage regulator for now which can be done without having to remove the alternator. Failing that I’ll get my one refurbed.

A few pics from the trackday

 

[burrellbloke]

If you can look out for a second had OEM alternator. We replaced the voltage regulator on our Clio 200 but we still got the same warning messages. Despite the error messages the battery was still charging with the replacement voltage regulator.

 

[Dowling93]

I agree with this, I got mine rebuilt and I still get the voltage error, there's no actual issues anytime I've checked the voltage is fine I just treat it as a "French thing" with this car and ignore it

 

[tartaruga]

If you can look out for a second had OEM alternator. We replaced the voltage regulator on our Clio 200 but we still got the same warning messages. Despite the error messages the battery was still charging with the replacement voltage regulator.

Will go on the hunt so. Did you use a genuine Bosch voltage regulator?

I agree with this, I got mine rebuilt and I still get the voltage error, there's no actual issues anytime I've checked the voltage is fine I just treat it as a "French thing" with this car and ignore it

Error won’t bother me once it charges. I had actually hoped mine was just a “French thing“ I have my car stored the same place as yours now, did you use someone local by any chance to refurb yours?

 

[EthanMenace]

Will go on the hunt so. Did you use a genuine Bosch voltage regulator?




Error won’t bother me once it charges. I had actually hoped mine was just a “French thing“ I have my car stored the same place as yours now, did you use someone local by any chance to refurb yours?

Yep genuine bosch

 

[Dowling93]

Will go on the hunt so. Did you use a genuine Bosch voltage regulator?




Error won’t bother me once it charges. I had actually hoped mine was just a “French thing“ I have my car stored the same place as yours now, did you use someone local by any chance to refurb yours?

Nope I usually get things like that done by a guy down in Carlow so not exactly local I don't know of anybody out around that area for work